Grist Brewing, opening Saturday, is the first of many new breweries in the southern suburbs

Grist Brewing Company, 9150 Commerce Center Circle in Highlands Ranch, will celebrate its grand opening at noon on Saturday, November 2, the first in a wave of new breweries opening in Denver's southern suburbs over the next few months.

Grist will be the first independently owned craft brewery to open in Highlands Ranch; it will have eight beers on tap to start, including a kölsch, an IPA, a hefeweizen, a brown, a stout and a Belgian strong ale, served in four-ounce tasters as well as pints, half-pints and 32-ounce growlers. The El Toro the Tot food truck will also be on hand.

Owner Rob Kevwitch is an organic chemist who grew up in Colorado before spending most of his professional life in Arizona and Texas. His brewery will have a twenty-barrel brewing system and a 6,500-square-foot brewery and tap room.